Audie Cornish

If you've been watching the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on TV, you've probably seen it happen a few times already: Every few minutes, a fresh wave of brightly colored signs — bearing campaign slogans like "Stronger Together" or "Love Trumps Hate" — spreads across the convention floor like wildfire. Shelly Loos is in charge of floor operations for the DNC. And it's her job to oversee the timing and distribution of the 300,000 to 400,000 signs at the convention, and the some...

Across the U.S., more than 20 million people abuse drugs or alcohol or both. Only about 1 in 10 is getting treatment . People seeking treatment often have to wait weeks or months for help. The delays can jeopardize the chances they'll be able to recover from their addiction. In Baltimore, Health Commissioner Leana Wen has been pushing for treatment on demand, so that the moment people decide they're ready for help, it's available. It's something other health officials have sought to achieve,...

If you took a map of Chicago and put down a tack for each person shot last year, you'd need nearly 3,000 tacks. Of those, 101 would be clustered in the neighborhood of East Garfield Park. That's where 15-year-old Jim Courtney-Clarks lives. "To be honest, I really don't like it," Courtney-Clarks says. "Every time you look up somebody else is getting killed, and I never know if it's me or somebody I am really close to." For kids in some Chicago neighborhoods, walking up and down the same street...

The protests in Chicago have been mostly peaceful. But it's not just about police. This is all happening against a backdrop of gang violence, including the recent killing of a 9-year-old boy who police say was apparently targeted because of his father's alleged gang ties. These incidents are forcing difficult conversations between parents and kids. And for African-American families, the conversation hits close to home. How do you talk about what's happening? How do you reassure your kids? And...

Every Thursday night you can find Nathan Fields making the rounds of Baltimore's red light district, known to locals as The Block. An outreach worker with the Baltimore City Health Department, Fields, 55, is a welcome sight outside strip clubs like Circus, Club Harem and Jewel Box. In the early evening before the clubs get busy, he talks with dancers, bouncers and anyone else passing by about preventing drug overdoses and how to stop the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases....

A suspected case of measles. A rabid fox on the loose. A recall of a dye used in tattoos. A drug epidemic that's claiming hundreds of lives. Those are just a few of the problems that Dr. Leana Wen confronts in a typical week as the Baltimore City Health Commissioner. While they all have to be dealt with, it's clear that heroin is among Wen's gravest concerns. Right now, she's focused on stopping overdoses and saving lives. There were 104 overdose deaths in Baltimore during the first quarter...

In today's crowded TV landscape, the casting director's job is no small thing. And that talent will be honored at the Emmy Awards next month. Jennifer Euston, who has been in the casting business for two decades, has been nominated this year for outstanding casting for a comedy series and for a drama series. "I get the script, I read it, I break it down. Anyone who has a speaking part is my responsibility," she says. "Even if the person says, 'Hi' — one word." Euston's first gig was on Law...

On a hot, sunny Monday in mid-July, Dr. Leana Wen stood on a sidewalk in West Baltimore flanked by city leaders: Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, interim police commissioner Kevin Davis, Rep. Elijah Cummings. Under a huge billboard with the web address dontdie.org, she proudly unveiled a 10-point plan for tackling the city's heroin epidemic. Wen, the city's health commissioner, said she aims to create a 24/7 treatment center, an emergency room of sorts for substance abuse and mental health....

Neighborhoods in Baltimore are still struggling to recover from the riots that broke out following the funeral of Freddie Gray, who suffered a fatal injury to his spine while in police custody. In the aftermath of the unrest, we here at NPR spent many hours trying to understand the raw anger on display. We looked at police brutality, economic disparities and housing segregation in Baltimore. Our conversations eventually led us to Leana Wen. Wen, a 32-year old emergency physician, had become...

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: We've learned the names of the Marines killed yesterday in Chattanooga. One was Sergeant Carson Holmquist. He joined the Marines six years ago. From Wisconsin today, his father told NPR, he died doing what he loved - fighting for our country. AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Sullivan was 40 years old. He'd been a Marine for 18 years. Sullivan served two tours of duty in Iraq and earned two...

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: One final note on Tom Menino. Back in 2005, I covered the mayor as he ran for his fourth term. I spent the day in his black SUV as he crisscrossed the city visiting kindergarten celebrations, ribbon cuttings, restaurant openings and everywhere Mayor Menino went, he reached in and out of his left shirt pocket for these little slips of paper to write down the kudos and complaints of the residents he met....

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: This is one of those questions that is perfect for a Congressional hearing, though not so perfect for the witness. The question is how a man managed to get so far onto the White House grounds. AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: The Secret Service is being asked variations on that question today. Earlier this month, an army veteran climbed over the White House fence, and it turns out the intruder made it farther...

On a typical morning on Ben Hewitt's small farm in Cabot, Vt., he and his wife, Penny, and their two sons wake up early. But after doing the chores and eating breakfast, Fin, 12, and Rye, 9, don't have to run for the school bus. Instead, they spend the morning reading Gary Paulsen tales, or they strap on pack baskets they wove themselves, carrying small knives at their belts, and head out to build shelters and forage in the woods. The Hewitts are practitioners of a particularly unstructured...

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Obama administration officials revealed this evening that U.S. special forces recently attempted to rescue U.S. hostages in Syria. The mission was unsuccessful. The statement comes after the release of a video depicting the murder of journalist James Foley. Foley was killed by the extremist group known as the Islamic State. Today, his parents spoke about their son. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) D....

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, I'm Audie Cornish. ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: And I'm Robert Siegel. The United States has Supreme Court has stepped in to block an Appeals Court ruling on gay marriages. The ruling would have allowed same-sex marriages to begin in Virginia tomorrow, but that is now on hold. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg joins us in the studio now. Hi Nina. NINA...

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: What comes next, now that the U.S. has mounted airstrikes in Iraq for the first time in years? Early today, fighter jets and drones bombed artillery positions of the group calling itself the Islamic State. The militants have swept through northern Iraq and are now targeting the city of Erbil. Late yesterday, President Obama authorized what he called targeted airstrikes along with humanitarian airdrops...

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Ari Shapiro. AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: And I'm Audie Cornish. For weeks news headlines have been dominated with the news that tens of thousands of children and teens have been arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border for months. Their overwhelming detention facilities and immigration courts. SHAPIRO: Congress has been wrestling with an emergency funding request from...

Sen. John Walsh of Montana was appointed to his seat in February, and he's preparing to face voters for the first time. The Democrat's bid will likely be complicated by allegations of plagiarism, reported by The New York Times . It seems that in a paper Walsh submitted for his master's degree from the U.S. Army War College, long passages were borrowed without attribution. Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.